Leonard Peltier
is an imprisoned Native American considered by Amnesty International,
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, National Congress
of American Indians, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for
Human Rights, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Rev. Jesse Jackson,
among many others, to be a political prisoner who should be immediately
released.

Leonard Peltier
was convicted for the deaths of two FBI agents who died during
a 1975 shoot-out on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Mr. Peltier
has been in prison for over 29 years.

The Wounded
Knee occupation of 1973 marked the beginning of a three-year period
of political violence on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The
tribal chairman hired vigilantes, self titled as “GOONS,”
to rid the reservation of American Indian Movement (AIM) activity
and sentiment. More than 60 traditional tribal members and AIM
members were murdered and scores more were assaulted. Evidence
indicated GOON responsibility in the majority of crimes but despite
a large FBI presence, nothing was done to stop the violence. The
FBI supplied the GOONS with intelligence on AIM members and looked
away as GOONS committed crimes. One former GOON member reported
that the FBI supplied him with armor piercing ammunition.

Leonard Peltier
was an AIM leader and was asked by traditional people at Pine
Ridge, South Dakota, to support and protect the traditional people
being targeted for violence. Mr. Peltier and a small group of
young AIM members set up camp on a ranch owned by the traditional
Jumping Bull family.

On June 26,
1975 two FBI agents in unmarked cars followed a pick-up truck
onto the Jumping Bull ranch. The families immediately became alarmed
and feared an attack. Shots were heard and a shoot-out erupted.
More than 150 agents, GOONS, and law enforcement surrounded the
ranch.

When the
shoot-out ended the two FBI agents and one Native American lay
dead. The agents were injured in the shoot-out and were then shot
at close range. The Native American, Joseph Stuntz, was shot in
the head by a sniper’s bullet. Mr. Stuntz’s death
has never been investigated, nor has anyone ever been charged
in connection with his death.

According
to FBI documents, more than 40 Native Americans participated in
the gunfight, but only AIM members Bob Robideau, Darrell Butler,
and Leonard Peltier were brought to trial.

Mr. Robideau
and Mr. Butler were arrested first and went to trial. A federal
jury in Iowa acquitted them on grounds of self-defense, finding
that their participation in the shoot-out was justified given
the climate of fear that existed on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Further, they could not be tied to the close-range shootings.

Leonard Peltier
was arrested in Canada on February 6, 1976, along with Frank Blackhorse,
a.k.a. Frank Deluca. The United States presented the Canadian
court with affidavits signed by Myrtle Poor Bear who said she
was Mr. Peltier’s girlfriend and allegedly saw him shoot
the agents. In fact, Ms. Poor Bear had never met Mr. Peltier and
was not present during the shoot-out. Soon after, Ms. Poor Bear
recanted her statements and said the FBI threatened her and coerced
her into signing the affidavits.

Mr. Peltier
was extradited to the United States where he was tried in 1977.
The trial was held in North Dakota before United States District
Judge Paul Benson, a conservative jurist appointed to the federal
bench by Richard M. Nixon. Key witnesses like Myrtle Poor Bear
were not allowed to testify and unlike the Robideau/Butler trial
in Iowa, evidence regarding violence on Pine Ridge was severely
restricted.

An FBI agent
who had previously testified that the agents followed a pick-up
truck onto the scene, a vehicle that could not be tied to Mr.
Peltier, changed his account, stating that the agents had followed
a red and white van onto the scene, a vehicle which Mr. Peltier
drove occasionally.

Three teenaged
Native witnesses testified against Mr. Peltier, they all later
admitted that the FBI forced them to testify. Still, not one witness
identified Mr. Peltier as the shooter.

The U.S.
Attorney prosecuting the case claimed that the government had
provided the defense with all FBI documents concerning the case.
To the contrary, more than 140,000 pages had been withheld in
their entirety.

An FBI ballistics
expert testified that a casing found near the agents’ bodies
matched the gun tied to Mr. Peltier. However, a ballistic test
proving that the casing did not come from the gun tied to Mr.
Peltier was intentionally concealed.

The jury,
unaware of the aforementioned facts, found Mr. Peltier guilty.
Judge Benson, in turn, sentenced Mr. Peltier to two consecutive
life terms.

Following
the discovery of new evidence obtained through a Freedom of Information
Act lawsuit, Mr. Peltier sought a new trial. The Eighth Circuit
ruled, “There is a possibility that the jury would have
acquitted Leonard Peltier had the records and data improperly
withheld from the defense been available to him in order to better
exploit and reinforce the inconsistencies casting strong doubts
upon the government's case." Yet, the court denied Mr. Peltier
a new trial.

During oral
argument, the government attorney conceded that the government
does not know who shot the agents, stating that Mr. Peltier is
equally guilty whether he shot the agents at point-blank range,
or participated in the shoot-out from a distance. Mr. Peltier’s
co-defendants participated in the shoot-out from a distance, but
were acquitted.

Judge Heaney,
who authored the decision denying a new trial, has since voiced
firm support for Mr. Peltier’s release, stating that the
FBI used improper tactics to convict Mr. Peltier, the FBI was
equally responsible for the shoot-out, and that Mr. Peltier's
release would promote healing with Native Americans.

Mr. Peltier
has served over 29 years in prison and is long overdue for parole.
He has received several human rights awards for his good deeds
from behind bars which include annual gift drives for the children
of Pine Ridge, fund raisers for battered women’s shelters,
and donations of his paintings to Native American recovery programs.

Mr. Peltier
suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, and a heart condition.
Time for justice is short.

Currently,
Mr. Peltier’s attorneys have filed a new round of Freedom
of Information Act requests with FBI Headquarters and all FBI
field offices in an attempt to secure the release of all files
relating to Mr. Peltier and the RESMURS investigation. To date,
the FBI has engaged in a number of dilatory tactics in order to
avoid the processing of these requests.